In the war when Wu invaded Chu, Shen Baoxu was undoubtedly the one who turned the situation around.
Shen Baoxu and Wu Zixu were good friends. They were officials in the same court and worked for King Ping of Chu. When King Ping of Chu believed the slander and plotted to kill Wu She and Wu Shang, Shen Baoxu was away on official business and was not in the court. Wu Zixu fled, and on the road he met Shen Baoxu, who was returning to Chu from the Song Dynasty. At this time, the news of Chu Ping's actions had spread, and Shen Baoxu was well aware of Wu Zixu's experience, so the meeting between the two was particularly awkward.
Wu Zixu did not fall out with his friends at this time. He knew that he had said goodbye to everything in the past. He knew that he would appear in front of the Chu State as an enemy in the future. This was his mission and his dignity. So he swore a poisonous oath in front of Shen Baoxu, saying that he would bury the Chu State with his own hands in the future. This oath shows Wu Zixu's state of mind. Although he is unwilling to fall out with his friends, he has a deep blood feud on his shoulders and everything in the world must make way for it. Wu Zixu has no choice but to make a decision.
Shen Baoxu had no choice. As a minister, even if the monarch had no virtue or conduct, his belief in his family, country and world should not be violated. King Ping of Chu's mistakes should not be paid by the people of Chu. As a man of the Chu State, he cannot allow his motherland to fall at the hands of foreign enemies. It is true that the fate of our old friend deserves sympathy, but the interests of the country are above all else, and the well-being of the people in the world is above all else. So Shen Baoxu sighed, "Even if you destroy Chu for a while, I will revive it."
In this oath and sigh, a pair of old friends parted ways. In this troubled world, each insists on its own beliefs and interprets the value of its existence in its own way, gradually moving away in completely opposite directions.
Wu Zixu went through many hardships and waited hard for sixteen years. During these sixteen years, he washed away all his glory and learned to be calm. Compared to the passionate young man sixteen years ago, he now understands the meaning of dormancy better. He is like a sword, completing self-experience and tempering every day until the moment of rebirth comes.
What Shen Baoxu went through during these sixteen years is unclear in the historical data, probably because his life was too mediocre to be worth recording, but what is certain is that he and the Chu State had countless Officials provide assistance to the operation of this huge state machine. Perhaps Shen Baoxu was nothing more than a small cog to the Chu State. However, to Shen Baoxu, Chu State was everything in his life.
The storm was about to come, but the Chu State was finally destroyed in the hands of the ignorant king and the sycophant. Compared with his old friend Wu Zixu, King Chu Zhao and his gang of gangsters were more responsible for the fall of Chu State, and Shen Baoxu knew this very well. But this no longer mattered to him. As a minister of the Chu State, he died as a ghost of the Chu State. Trapped in the chaos of war, Shen Baoxu's poems did not forget his country, his king, and his ideals and aspirations.
Wu Zixu was undoubtedly happy during these days, especially when he dragged the enemy's bones out of the grave and gave him three hundred lashes. Ten years of depression were resolved in this moment. Wu Zixu deserves all this. No one knows what he paid for it, and no one knows the sleepless nights he spent alone. These three hundred whips were sharp and crisp, dispelling the nightmare that had been lingering in his mind for sixteen years.
For Wu Zixu at this time, Shen Baoxu's appearance was extremely inappropriate. Shen Baoxu broke the pleasure in Wu Zixu's heart that had swelled to the extreme. Shen Baoxu, who was on the run, sent a message to Wu Zixu, scolding him for being ungrateful and ungrateful and fatherless for whipping the corpse of King Chu Zhao. These remarks crossed Wu Zixu's bottom line. For Wu Zixu, when he was burdened with deep hatred and humiliation, Shen Baoxu was living a peaceful life, and he could not understand the hatred and pain of his father and brother being killed. However, Shen Baoxu actually When his revenge was avenged, he put on a condescending air and preached like a moralist.
However, Wu Zixu did not react violently, because in his opinion, Shen Baoxu was just making random comments because of the demise of Chu State, and would not achieve anything. Wu Zixu's reply was arrogant and full of sarcasm. He told the visitor that he was grateful to Shen Baoxu. He was in a hurry because of the long journey, so he adopted a method that was perverse to Shen Baoxu.
Shen Baoxu knew that Wu Zixu had been suppressed for too long and had gone too far to look back. So he changed his mind and went to Qin State for help, hoping that Qin Guonian would help Chu State because of his marriage to Chu State. However, the king of Qin was unwilling to disturb the troubled waters and refused to send troops to rescue him. Shen Baoxu suddenly fell into despair. This man didn't know how to save the motherland for which he had sacrificed everything. Finally, he could no longer persist in the strength he had been pretending to have these days, and leaned against the palace wall of Qin. cry.
Shen Baoxu cried bitterly not only because the country's destruction and the people's suffering made him feel like a knife, but also because he was so powerless in the face of all this. He could only watch the motherland being wantonly ravaged, and his own beliefs Swallow reality bit by bit.
Even the most insensitive person will be moved by the man who cried for seven days and seven nights. The king of Qin finally sent reinforcements, although there were only five hundred chariots. But this army, under the leadership of Shen Baoxu, actually showed amazing combat effectiveness, giving Chu a glimmer of hope and light for a country that was about to fall into darkness.
Chu State was saved, and the fates of Shen Baoxu and Wu Zixu once again reached their respective distant places. Shen Baoxu chose to retire, and he refused all rewards from King Chu Zhao. This is a gesture, hoping to show Wu Zixu in the distance that he is public-spirited. This is also a kind of wisdom. Having been immersed in officialdom for many years, it is impossible for him to not clearly see the crux of the country, and he knows that the best choice is to retire at this time. After all, Shen Baoxu is also a person who lives in contradictions and searches hard but cannot solve himself.
Bai Gongsheng was the son of Prince Jian who was framed by Fei Wuji and forced to flee. After Prince Jian was killed in the state of Zheng, Wu She took Bai Gongsheng into exile in the state of Wu. Prince Jian's mother, after hearing that Bai Gongsheng was brought to the state of Wu, designed to lure the Wu army to attack the city where she was. She took her property with the Wu army to the state of Wu, found Bai Gongsheng, and raised him. .
Bai Gongsheng lived in the state of Wu for more than thirty years. During this period, his homeland, the state of Chu, had been severely weakened due to continuous turmoil. The Wu State's continuous military use made the Chu State exhausted to deal with it. The capital was destroyed and the king fled, which was a great shame and humiliation. Although the country of Chu relied on the help of Qin and Yue to avoid the fate of the country, the Chu State at that time was no longer the powerful country that it once was, commanding the south and eyeing the Central Plains.
King Chu Zhao returned to power after escaping the disaster, and reused his two brothers, Zixi and Ziqi, to govern the country together, slowly returning Chu to normal.
After the death of King Chu Zhao, his son King Chu Hui came to the throne. In the second year of King Hui's reign, Bai Gongsheng's return to the country was put on the agenda. The person who advocated bringing back Bai Gongsheng was Zixi, who had already served as the imperial commander at that time. He believed that Bai Gongsheng was also a direct relative of the royal family of the Chu Kingdom. Now that the Chu Kingdom had regained its strength, he should no longer be allowed to live abroad. Ye Gongzi Gao objected, thinking that Bai Gongsheng was cunning and unjust, and always wanted to stir up trouble, which would cause endless troubles after returning to the country. Zixi, however, believed that Bai Gongsheng was a loyal and brave man, and that by ordering him to guard the frontier, he was able to make full use of his talents. Ye Gongzi Gao insisted on his own opinion and believed that loyalty and bravery could only be achieved on the premise of benevolence and morality. However, Bai Gongsheng was paranoid. Although he practiced what he said and did everything personally, he was fanatical and impetuous and ambitious and could never be recalled. .
Ye Gongzi Gao's advice did not work. One year later, in the third year of King Hui of Chu, Zixi welcomed Bai Gongsheng back to Chu State, which opened the curtain of another round of civil strife in Chu State.
Bai Gongsheng was ordered to guard the border area between Wu and Chu. He repeatedly advised him to attack Zheng, hoping to avenge his father. Not only did the State of Chu fail to fulfill his wish, but in the tenth year of King Chu Hui's reign, the State of Chu sent troops to rescue the State of Zheng, which was defeated by the State of Jin, and they became allies. This can be said to be a bolt from the blue for Bai Gongsheng, which means that his revenge plan is far away.
For Bai Gongsheng, the first mission he had to complete when he returned to the Chu Kingdom was to avenge his father. There were two targets. The first was Fei Wuji. Since King Chu Zhao had already executed Fei Wuji's entire family, this goal was I had no choice but to write it off; the second was the state of Zheng. Although it was Prince Jian who did something unjust to the state of Zheng who kindly took him in and died unjustly, Duke Bai did not care about this. Bai Gongsheng is a man who sticks to his word. Whether his promises and the actions he takes to fulfill them are in line with morality, justice, and people's hearts are not within his scope of consideration.
At this time, Bai Gongsheng's ideal of conquering Zheng was thwarted by reality, and this "reality" originated from his two uncles, who were also powerful figures in the Chu State-Zixi and Ziqi. Bai Gongsheng is full of resentment towards the two men, not because they hindered his revenge, but because they prevented him from fulfilling his original vow.
Such a mentality will inevitably be expanded, which is a common feature of the following offenders. Bai Gongsheng was no exception. He soon expanded his targets of rebellion from Zixi and Ziqi to King Hui of Chu, and the ultimate goal of his actions became to make himself the new king of Chu.
Bai Gongsheng's wolfish ambition did not arouse Zixi's vigilance at first. One day Zixi's son Ping saw Bai Gong Sheng sharpening his sword and asked why. Bai Gongsheng was outspoken and said that he wanted to kill his father Zixi. Ping did not dare to neglect and conveyed Bai Gongsheng's original words to Zixi. Zixi disapprovingly said that Bai Gongsheng was an egg under his protection. When Bai Gongsheng found out, he suddenly became murderous and vowed to prevent Zixi from having a good death.
Bai Gongsheng was organizing his own team while dormant. His confidant Shi Qi recommended him Xiong Yiliao, a warrior who could defeat thousands of enemies. However, no matter how hard and soft the two of them tried, Xiong Yiliao was unwilling to do injustice for them. The two had no choice but to return disappointed. Shi Qi wanted to kill Xiong Yiliao to prevent the news from leaking out, but Bai Gongsheng believed that although Xiong Yiliao would not conspire with him, he would not betray them for profit.
Bai Gongsheng once had a discussion with Confucius and asked Confucius whether he could tell others his private matters, but Confucius did not answer. Bai Gongsheng asked again what would happen if the stone was thrown into the water. Confucius said that those who are good at water will fish them out. Bai Gongsheng said that it seemed that private matters should not be leaked to others. Confucius said it depends on who the leak is to.
People are not unaware of Bai Gongsheng's ambition. One day, Shi Qi and Qu Jian had a drink together. Qu Jian asked if Bai Gongsheng was going to cause trouble. Shi Qi wanted to cover up the situation and said that there was no such thing. Bai Gongsheng had only a few close followers and his army was less than a thousand, so how could he rebel. Qu Jian hit the nail on the head and said that this was the reason for his rebellion, because he did not act according to etiquette standards and seemed to have evil intentions.
In the eleventh year of King Hui of Chu, Duke Bai defeated the invading Wu army. He led his army to the capital on the pretext of presenting spoils to King Chu. He took the opportunity to enter the palace, executed Ling Yin Zixi and Sima Ziqi, and kidnapped King Hui of Chu.
Bai Gongsheng was brave but not wise. He controlled the palace with his bloody courage, but he had no idea how to deal with the treasury and King Hui of Chu. Shi Qi suggested that the matter should be done absolutely, killing the king of Chu and burning the national treasury. Bai Gongsheng hesitated, thinking that this was an unlucky move. Besides, how could he maintain the state's expenses if the treasury was burned?
Bai Gongsheng's political capital was also exhausted along with his misdeeds. People sympathized with him at first because he was the orphan of Prince Jian, but when the Chu State was working together to seek stability and development, he once again dragged the Chu State into civil strife, which was contrary to the people's hearts. The unprovoked and indiscriminate killing of two highly respected ministers, Zi Xi and Zi Qi, exposed his cruel and ferocious face. As a result, Bai Gongsheng fell into a difficult situation.
Under such a situation, Bai Gongsheng did not dare to declare himself king rashly, so he introduced his uncle and son. Zilu was the elder brother of King Chu Zhao. He had the opportunity to ascend the throne after King Chu Zhao's death, but he declined and supported King Chu Zhao's son King Chu Hui to succeed to the throne, so he enjoyed high prestige among the clan. Bai Gongsheng hoped to use his fame to stabilize the situation, but Zilu did not want to become Bai Gongsheng's puppet, and was killed by the angry Bai Gongsheng.
Ye Gongzi Gao, who had originally urged Zixi not to welcome back Bai Gongsheng, followed the public opinion and sent his troops to the capital. With the support of the people inside and outside, he wiped out Bai Gongsheng's troops. Bai Gongsheng was completely distraught, and everyone deserted his relatives. He fled alone and was killed by Shen Ming in the wild mountains.
Shen Ming was a general of the Chu State and was famous for his filial piety. Bai Gongsheng made trouble and invited him to join the army, threatening his father's life. Shen Ming had no choice but to comply. Shen Ming killed Bai Gong and won, but his father was killed by Shi Qi. Shen Ming believed that he had lost his virginity and became a thief, but he could not save his father, and had become an unfaithful and unfilial person, so he committed suicide.
As a result, the rebellion of Bai Gongsheng was calmed down in the hands of Ye Gongzi Gao. King Chu Hui returned to the throne of the king. Zixi and Ziqi's sons took over their father's positions respectively, and Chu State restored its original peace.
